Dr. Jordan B. Peterson

The central story that possesses us is one of power and nothing else.

Well, fair enough in some ways, you know, I mean, certainly there isn't anyone here, there's no one alive who hasn't been tempted by

There's people who are unable to utilize power.

And they're just useless.

And then they might mask their lack of uselessness with a moral veneer.

I'd never use power.

And my objection would be, well, it doesn't really matter to me one way or another because you're so incompetent, you don't have the opportunity.

And so that's not a moral claim.

That was something Nietzsche pointed out in the late 1800s in his critique of morality as cowardice.

You know, if you're weak and useless, the best justification you have for it is that you don't do terrible things because you're good.

It's like, no, you don't do terrible things just because you're useless.

Now, that doesn't mean that's necessarily the only reason that people don't do terrible things.

That is not what I'm saying.

I'm just saying that the accusation thrown by the postmodernists at the human race that our fundamental motivation is one of self-serving power, because power, properly defined, has to be self-serving.

Otherwise, it's not power, it's cooperation.

So I need to exercise power if I'm trying to compel you to do something you don't want to do.

Maybe that's all we do.

You're out for your power.

I'm out for my power.

It's a bloody nightmare of power competition.